The most widely accepted loom beam let off utilized by the textile industry is the "Hunt" let off, generally illustrated in at least one version in U.S. Pat. No. 3,255,784. Such let offs are relatively complicated and, although means is provided for automatic sheave adjustments responsive to variations in yarn tension and beam size, weights must be manually adjusted periodically during the depletion of yarn build from the loom beam.
Accordingly, an important object of this invention is the provision of a simplified let off utilizing a simple braking structure which is subject to easy adjustments to exert varying the amounts of drag afforded thereby to tension the warp yarn with a view to compensating for variations in yarn tension during running of a loom beam.
The use of drum brake means in relatively complicated let offs is illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,441,680 and 3,749,136. However, the braking apparatus of the present invention contemplates what are generally known as caliper brakes utilizing a disc with opposed pads for generating a drag. A simplified let off results through the avoidance of complicated gearing as made possible through the use of disc and pads.